Tag: public art

New art is arriving at Euclid trolley station!

Look what I discovered during my travels today! New public artwork is now being painted on two low walls by the trolley station platform at the Euclid Transit Center!

When I saw the distinctive style, I guessed that the artist is Maxx Moses, who has other trolley station murals here and here. When I got home, I found this article confirming my suspicion!

And Maxx Moses will be painting a big wall at the nearby 47th Street trolley station, too! It’s part of a cool MTS project to enliven the Orange Line!

This Euclid Avenue Station art, titled Blossom, will eventually include many painted marigolds. Marigolds represent life’s fragility and spiritual endurance in Mexican culture. You often see these flowers during Dia de los Muertos.

I’ll post updated images at some point in the future!

UPDATE!

I visited the Euclid trolley station again in late February and took some more photos. I’m not sure whether the artwork is finished or still a work in progress…

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Shorelines mosaics at La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station.

Perceptive people strolling down the boardwalk at La Jolla Shores beach might encounter something both unexpected and wonderful.

Decorating the north and south sides of the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station are colorful tile mosaic panels that depict the sun and sea. The public art is titled Shorelines.

Shorelines was installed in 2012, and was created by award-winning San Diego artist Mary Lynn Dominguez.

I really like this beachy artwork! It’s swirly and bubbly and captures the mood of the nearby beach. Looking at the panels is like glimpsing a bright, abstract world through horizonal windows.

You can learn more about Shorelines, which is part of San Diego’s Civic Art Collection, here!

At the front of the lifeguard station, facing the boardwalk, I also noticed a plaque. It remembers Ron Trenton.

The plaque is a bit corroded, as you can see in my photograph. It reads:

RON TRENTON

1945-1997

Gentleman, Scholar, Humorist, Friend, Lifeguard Extraordinare [sic]

“LOST AT SEA”

Now Comes the Lifeguard, Back to the Sea, Where He Found Action, Where He Found Peace, Where He Saved Others With Selfless Devotion and Where He Risked All With a Smile of Emotion

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

It was all a dream in Little Italy!

If you’ve driven north up India Street at Kalmia Street, you might’ve seen three new, very unusual street signs.

Do they indicate motorists are about to leave the Little Italy neighborhood? No. Together in sequence they read: IT WAS ALL A DREAM.

On their other side, the signs declare: WORK IN PROGRESS – YOU ARE HERE – STAY PRESENT.

This raises a difficult question. If the past was all a dream, and people are urged to stay present, what should one do? Avoid a return to dreaming?

Does anyone know who installed this public art? And when? I’ve done some googling, but find nothing but an unhelpful Instagram post. If you have more info about these fun signs, please leave a comment.

By the way, the funky, kitschy zebra stripes-like mural on the side of the El Camino Mexican restaurant that you see in the background was recently painted by Delilah Strukel (@Wanderingdelilah).

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

That huge wall of flowers in North Park!

Have you seen that huge wall of colorful flowers in North Park?

I glimpsed the artwork in passing a few days ago, so this morning I got a better look!

The mural, by Hanna of @HannasMurals, was painted last year on the parking lot wall at Dave’s Flower Box. It’s hard to miss these gigantic blooms near the intersection of Texas Street and El Cajon Boulevard.

Check it out!

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Fun trashcan tile art at J Street Viewpoint!

Check out this fun artwork on trashcans at the J Street Viewpoint in Encinitas!

I saw this public art during my last walk in Encinitas.

While enjoying the J Street Viewpoint park that overlooks the ocean, I also photographed a plaque remembering John Denver, which you can see here, and an extraordinary sculpture titled Humanity, which you can see here.

I don’t know anything about these trashcans. It appears the tiles were painted by community members, including lots of kids. If you know anything, please leave a comment!

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Connecting with beautiful Humanity in Encinitas.

There’s an extraordinary bronze sculpture in Encinitas at a place that overlooks the wide blue Pacific Ocean. It’s titled Humanity.

Head west on J Street until you can go no farther, then up the steps to the J Street Viewpoint. Keep your eyes open.

The beautiful sculpture was created in 2013 by Del Mar artist Maidy Morhous. It was installed in the park in 2018. The sculpture was commissioned by local filmmaker Sue Vicory of Heartland Films, whose film “One” explores human connectivity.

You can read more about this artwork’s inspiration here.

Humanity is part of the Encinitas Public Art Collection.

Look at these photos. Touch them with your eyes.

One touch forever connects us with Humanity.

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

More beautiful faces appear in City Heights!

Look at all these beautiful new faces in City Heights! I saw them today during a morning walk.

An incredible 263-foot long mural is gradually coming to life at the south end of Teralta Park, which is located on the freeway cap over Interstate 15. The mural is being painted by talented San Diego graffiti artist Sake, whom I met last year.

Last time I photographed the mural-in-progress, several faces at the left end had been finished. Since then, more faces have been completed! And other painted details throughout the very long mural are appearing as well.

City Heights is a community in east San Diego that is home to many immigrants and refugees from all around the world. That diversity is reflected in this colorful, positive artwork!

If you’d like to see photographs of artist Sake at work last year, and find links to even earlier photos, you can click here!

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Mural on historical building celebrates Solana Beach!

If you’ve ever walked from Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach toward Highway 101, you’ve probably noticed a large, super colorful mural. The artwork is painted on the west side of the Saddle Bar, on Acacia Avenue.

During my most recent visit to Solana Beach, I ambled up to the mural and discovered the old building it decorates has a Solana Beach Civic Historical Society plaque.

The building was originally the Mayme and Charles Karn’s Bicycle Shop back in 1924. It served as a United States Post Office from 1936 to 1953.

The mural was painted in 2019 by Cardiff-by-the-Sea artist Dustin (Brane) Hull.

Images in the artwork include: a friendly dog; a woman surfing; carrying surfboards on the beach; a kid skateboarding; a musician performing at the famous Belly Up Tavern; a Coaster train and the Solana Beach station; and Fiesta Del Sol, an annual festival held on the nearby streets.

I love this mural. It really captures the happy vibe of this beach community.

I took these photos!

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Sculptures beautify Paradise Creek Gathering Place.

On the south side of National City’s Kimball Park, near 16th Street, a footbridge crosses Paradise Creek. Look up near the bridge and you’ll spy beautiful small sculptures mounted atop high posts.

These shining metal sculptures at the Paradise Creek Gathering Place were created by San Diego artist Vicki Leon, in collaboration with high school students at A Reason To Survive (ARTS), an organization in National City that uplifts local youth using the power of creativity.

The Paradise Creek Gathering Place sculptures together are titled Migratory Flight. They resemble silvery birds taking wing. Solar-powered lights illuminate bits of colored glass in clear tubes beneath each sculpture.

The environmental sculptures, symbolizing wildlife that depends on Paradise Creek, were installed in 2018. Many in the community came out to help build and beautify the Paradise Creek Gathering Place, including the Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center’s Kitchenistas and students from San Diego City College and San Diego State University. You can read more about the project here and here.

Lead artist Vicki Leon has also helped to beautify her own City Heights Azalea Park neighborhood. You can see photos of more amazing public artwork that I took during a special visit to Azalea Park here and here and here.

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Mystical visions at 1st Street Bar in Encinitas!

A new mural was painted at the 1st Street Bar in Encinitas several months ago. I didn’t see it until this weekend, during my walk down South Coast Highway 101.

The mural is a colorful, mystical work by artists Amanda Lynn and Carly Ealey. It’s overflowing with visions of nature’s beauty and cosmic mystery.

This fantastic artwork replaces an older environmental Sea Walls mural at the same Encinitas location, painted by the same artists. I took photos of the previous 1st Street Bar mural in 2019 and posted them here.

It’s interesting to contrast the styles of the two murals. I particularly like this newer one.

Enjoy!

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!